6 footballers who relied solely on their pace for success

#2 David Odonkor

David Odonkor retired at the age of 29 in a career plagued by injury

Odonkor is a typical examle of a player who used his speed to temporarily compensate for his lack of other skill sets. In fact, Odonkor has clocked an official time of 10.6s for the 100m.He first burst onto the international scene as a substitute for Germany in the 2006 World Cup, as Jurgen Klinsmann looked to take advantage of his blistering pace to get at tiring opponents.

Sadly, the Borussia Dortmund youth academy product also showed that pace alone isn’t all it takes to cut it at the top level. His erratic use of the ball meant he was never able to cement a place in the starting lineup for Die Mannschaft. Even at Dortmund, he had just one season where he featured regularly in 2005/06 after which he courted interest from Real Betis.

His career at Betis was something of a horror story, with a serious knee injury sidelining him for most of his first season, only to injure himself again in his second year soon after his comeback. He showed promise after his second recovery, only to undergo a knee surgery for the third time in his Betis career soon afterward.

Age and injury saw him lose his pace, his only selling point, and resulted in him move to a string of lower division clubs across Europe. And in 2013, after being injured for several months, Odonkor ended his professional career as a footballer.